Toilet-bowl disinfectant-detergent holder and dispenser

ABSTRACT

A collapsible-wall tube-type dispenser containing a fluid disinfectant and detergent composition, removably disposed in the flush-water path of a toilet bowl, releases no fluid to flush water impinging on the tube, discharge of fluid being effected only by manually pressing an object against the tube wall. The dispenser holder is adapted for use in bowls having inclined vortex-type flush-water inlets.

United States Patent [191 Drinkwaier 1 June 5, 1973 [54] TOILET-BOWL DISINFECTANT- [56] References Cited DETERGENT HOLDER AND UNITED STATES PATENTS DISPENSER 3,208,640 9/1965 Paulson ..222/107 X [76] Inventor: James M. Drinkwater, 950 E. 1386,680 11/1932 Holmes Lakeside Drive Fayetteville 3,537,112 11/1970 Goodman 1.4/23 1 7270] Primary ExaminerLeon G. Maclhlin [22] Filed: Dec. 20 1971 AttOrney -RaIph R. Pittman {21] Appl. N0.: 209,819 [57] ABSTRACT A collapsible-wall tube-type dispenser containing a 521 u.s. Cl ..4/231 222/105 fluid disinfectant and demgem mmposilion Int Cl [503d 9/03 removably disposed in the flush-water path of a toilet bowl, releases no fluid to flush water p g g on the [58] Field of Search ..239/32 328, 4/231, tube discharge of fluid being effected only by 4/223 222; 222/92- 93, 107; 401/129 manually pressing an object against the tube wall. The

1 I l30,120,1l8,132

dispenser holder is adapted for use in bowls having inclined vortex-type flush-water inlets.

8 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures TOILETyIlOWL DISINFECTANT DETERGENT HOLDER AND DISPENSER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION of water treating material in the path of the flush water,

which picks up and carries the material through the bowl.

Because of the usual high dilution, and more importantly, because the only area of the bowl treated is that reached by the flush water, this procedure cannot effect the desired treatment of areas which may be contacted by a user. In addition, the foregoing procedure has inherently poor scrubbing qualities, even with a detergent embodied in the water-impinged material.

Pumping devices actuated by movement of a toilet seat have also been described, principally for deodorizing. Such devices have limited and incomplete disinfecting ability, the pumped liquid being limited to a small area of contact within the bowl.

Little use is being made of the above-mentioned devices because of their unsatisfactory performance, and currently the most effective and widely practiced method for cleansing, deodorizing and disinfecting toilet bowls is by manual application of a detergent disinfectant composition to the entire surface of the bowl which is subject to contamination by a user.

The effective cleansing and disinfecting compositions contain sulfonates and phenols, and such materials are toxic to a degree requiring rubber gloves for handling, are harmful if either swallowed or contacted by the skin and particularly damaging to the eyes. Domestic help is reluctant, and often neglects, to apply the material as it should be applied, because of the lack of desirable dispensing facilities.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Herein is described a sanitizing fluid dispenser construction which makes effective disinfecting material readily available for use by a housekeeping maid, with no likelihood of physical contact.

A holder is spring-clipped to the water header at the top of the toilet bowl by simply inserting a portion of the holder in an inclined flush-water inlet from the header, and a closed-end collapsible-wall tube, handled as a sealed container of disinfectant material, is removably mounted within the toilet bowl on the conveniently accessible holder.

The wall of one side of the sealed tube abuts along the inner vertical wall of the bowl; the wall of the other side of the tube is punctured with one or more poretype pinholes near its underside, and out of the path of the flush water. The viscosity of the fluid within the tube is so related to the minute passageways as to normally preclude the discharge of any material from the tube and to discharge droplets of fluid only in response to a definite collapsing movement of tube walls.

This construction enables a domestic to obtain the fluid for application to the toilet bowl by pressing the absorbent end of an applicator against the punctured area of the tube.

At least a portion of the tube wall near its lowermost end is preferably transparent to visually indicate if the tube has been emptied, and some sort of indicia designating puncture points is desirable.

THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a common type of collapsible-wall tube dispenser mounted on the cliptype holder, only a fragment of the toilet bowl being shown.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the dispenser attached to the holder.

FIG. 3 shows a larger fragment of the toilet bowl,

with the dispenser in position for use.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The drawing illustrates a collapsible-wall tubetype dispenser 10 depending in the desired service position from the holder 11, the latter being removably clamped to the toilet bowl 12.

A widely-used type of toilet bowl is shown, the bowl 12 having an annular water flushing header 27, from which water is discharged along the inner surface of the bowl from the flushing inlets or orifices 28. The apertures 28 are inclined from the vertical, so that the entering water is swirled peripherally around the inner surface 29 of the bowl to effect a vortex or whirlpool character of flushing.

The holder 11 is formed from a wire of resilient material, such as stainless steel, and is removably attached to the underside of the flushing header 27 by the insertion of the clamping, upper bowl-engaging portion 20, the insertion being guided by the slightly upturned end pilot portion 21. The other end 22. of the coil 18 is extended horizontally and rearwardly along the lower outer surface of the tubular top 27, in opposed spaced relation with the upper inwardly-projected clamping portion 20, the coil spring 18 urging the members 20 and 22 to yielding attachment to the lower wall of the water header conduit 27.

The lower clamping portion 22 constitutes the long leg of the bobby-pin portion from which the tube dispenser 10 is suspended, the portion 22 extending rearwardly over and linearly along a forward portion of the tube 13 to the bight or bend 23, and there joining the forwardly extending short leg 24 of the bobby pin shaped portion of the holder.

A strap band 17 of flexible material, such as a polyethylene plastic, depends from the tube mounting por tion 24 of the holder, between the legs 22 and 24 of the bobbypin shaped portion, the axis of the band being horizontal in direction and extending parallel to the legs 22 and 24.

The outline of the dispenser 10 is similar to that of presently widely used collapsible-wall tube dispensers, the tube 13 having a forward end circular in section and sealed with an externally grooved cap 14, the tube tapering elliptically from the circular forward end to a flattened rectilinear closure at the rearward end.

The forward end portion of the tube is coaxially slipjoint fitted into the band 17, this operation indenting the tube along its engagement with the lower portion 24, thereby latching the tube in the desired posture with the flattened end extending vertically. An upwardly directed detent or protuberance 25 is formed along the lower portion 24, spaced forwardly from the bight 23 a distance equal to the band width, the band 17 nesting between the detent and the bight, and the forward end 26 of the leg 24 is sloped downwardly from the detent 25 to engage and lock the cap against loosening.

A portion of the sides and underside 15 of the tube 13 adjacent to the flattened end is formed of transparent material, to enable visual determination of the contents. This window also indicates the desirable disposition of a pinhole or pinholes 16 through the wall of the tube. Should the entire tube wall be transparent, some indicia designating the pinhole position is desirable.

The holder construction enables its attachment to toilet bowls whether the flush-water inlets are inclined to direct the water clockwise, or are inclined in the opposite direction for counterclockwise flushing. The holder may also be readily detached for replacing an empty dispenser, or the empty dispenser may be simply unhooked from the holder and a filled dispenser attached.

The tube is preferably punctured after it is mounted on the holder, the size of the apertures being so related to the fluid characteristics of the contents that an external pressure on the tube is required to cause any fluid to ooze from the pinholes. Any suitable cleaning implement, such as a small cord-type mop or applicator, may be used to press against the pinholed area of the tube wall and thereby express drops of the fluid for deposition on the applicator. v

A desirable procedure is to first empty the bowl by a pumping movement of the applicator, then further wetting the applicator with the sanitizing fluid and applying the so-treated applicator over all of the possibly contaminated surface of the bowl.

If desired, several dispensers may be mounted in a single bowl, the size of a wire having no noticeable effect upon. flush water action being of ample strength for a satisfactory holder.

What is claimed is:

l. A fluid dispenser for attachment to a toilet bowl, said toilet bowl having a peripherally extending water header at the top of the bowl and diagonally directed orifices opening into the bowl, said fluid dispenser comprising an elongate closed-end collapsible-wall tube having a flattened end closure, said tube containing a disinfectant and detergent fluid, supporting means holding said tube in a horizontal position with said flattened end closure disposed along a vertical plane within said toilet bowl, one side of said tube engaging a portion of the inner surface of said bowl adjacent the top of the bowl and the other side of said tube facing away from said inner surface, and a group of pinholes piercing the wall of said other side of said tube, said tube being circular in section at one end and tapering along an intermediate portion elliptical in section to said flattened end, and said pinholes being disposed adjacent to the underside of said intermediate portion and thereby shielded from contact with water impinging along the top of said tube.

2. A holder for horizontally supporting within a toilet bowl an elongate dispenser, said dispenser comprising a collapsible-wall tube having a circular closure cap at the forward end and a flattened end closure at the rearward end and said toilet bowl having a water header around the top of the bowl and downwardly inclined flush-inlet openings disposed to swirl water from said header around the interior of said bowl, said holder comprising a flat connecting band encircling a forward portion of said tube in slip-joint engagement therewith and a spring wire clip associated with said band, said clip including a bobby-pin portion extending longitudinally along the top of the dispenser tube, a first leg of said bobby pin portion extending between said band and said tube and a second and relatively longer leg of said bobby-pin portion extending longitudinally over the top of said band from the bight to a point beyond the forward end of said tube, a coiled portion merging coextensively with said longer leg, one end of said coiled portion joining said longer leg, a clamping portion extending first upwardly and thence rearwardly over said tube from the other end of said coiled portion, said clamping portion coacting with said longer leg of said bobby-pin portion to define a spring type clamp adapted to yieldingly clip on a portion of the wall of the toilet bowl header adjacent to one of said downwardly inclined openings.

3. The holder as defined in claim 2, further comprising the formation of an upstanding protuberance along the first leg of said bobby-pin portion at a position adjacent to the forward edge of said connecting band, said connecting band being retained between said protuberance and the bight of said bobby-pin portion.

4. The holder as claimed in claim 3, in which the end portion of said first leg of said bobby;pin portion is inclined downwardly in yielding engagement with the cap of the tube.

5. The holder as defined in claim 2, in which the end portion of said clamping portion is curved upwardly and divergently from the longer leg of the bobby pin portion whereby to pilot the insertion of said clamping portion through an orifice and into said header.

6. The combination with a toilet bowl having an annular tubular top provided with inclined flushing inlets, of a detachable holder supporting within said bowl a horizontally disposed closed-end collapsible tube, said holder comprising an upper bowl-engaging portion projecting first diagonally into one of said inlets and thence along a portion of the inner surface of said tubular top, a coextensive, horizontally directed intermediate portion disposed along the outer lower surface of said tubular top in opposed spaced relation with said upper portion, spring means mechanically joining said upper portion to said intermediate portion, said spring means urging said last-named portions to yielding engagement with the portion of said tubular top therebetween, a lower portion disposed in opposed spaced relation with said intermediate portion, and a strap band depending from said lower portion, said tube telescoping into said strap band in slip-joint engagement therewith.

7. The subject matter of claim 6, wherein the tube is circular in section at one end and tapers along an intermediate portion elliptic in section to a flat closure at the other end, a portion of the wall along the underside of said tube being formed of transparent material.

8. The subject matter of claim 7, further comprising at least one aperture of pinhole size extending through the transparent portion of the tube wall. 

1. A fluid dispenser for attachment to a toilet bowl, said toilet bowl having a peripherally extending water header at the top of the bowl and diagonally directed orifices opening into the bowl, said fluid dispenser comprising an elongate closed-end collapsible-wall tube having a flattened end closure, said tube containing a disinfectant and detergent fluid, supporting means holding said tube in a horizontal position with said flattened end closure disposed along a vertical plane within said toilet bowl, one side of said tube engaging a portion of the inner surface of said bowl adjacent the top of the bowl and the other side of said tube facing away from said inner surface, and a group of pinholes piercing the wall of said other side of said tube, said tube being circular in section at one end and tapering along an intermediate portion elliptical in section to said flattened end, and said pinholes being disposed adjacent to the underside of said intermediate portion and thereby shielded from contact with water impinging along the top of said tube.
 2. A holder for horizontally supporting within a toilet bowl an elongate dispenser, said dispenser comprising a collapsible-wall tube having a circular closure cap at the forward end and a flattened end closure at the rearward end and said toilet bowl having a water header around the top of the bowl and downwardly inclined flush-inlet openings disposed to swirl water from said header around the interior of said bowl, said holder comprising a flat connecting band encircling a forward portion of said tube in slip-joint engagement therewith and a spring wire clip associated with said band, said clip including a bobby-pin portion extending longitudinally along the top of the dispenser tube, a first leg of said bobby-pin portion extending between said band and said tube and a second and relatively longer leg of said bobby-pin portion extending longitudinally over the top of said band from the bight to a point beyond the forward end of said tube, a coiled portion merging coextensively with said longer leg, one end of said coiled portion joining said longer leg, a clamping portion extending first upwardly and thence rearwardly over said tube from the other end of said coiled portion, said clamping portion coacting with said longer leg of said bobby-pin portion to define a spring-type clamp adapted to yieldingly clip on a portion of the wall of the toilet bowl header adjacent to one of said downwardly inclined openings.
 3. The holder as defined in claim 2, further comprising the formation of an upstanding protuberaNce along the first leg of said bobby-pin portion at a position adjacent to the forward edge of said connecting band, said connecting band being retained between said protuberance and the bight of said bobby-pin portion.
 4. The holder as claimed in claim 3, in which the end portion of said first leg of said bobby-pin portion is inclined downwardly in yielding engagement with the cap of the tube.
 5. The holder as defined in claim 2, in which the end portion of said clamping portion is curved upwardly and divergently from the longer leg of the bobby-pin portion whereby to pilot the insertion of said clamping portion through an orifice and into said header.
 6. The combination with a toilet bowl having an annular tubular top provided with inclined flushing inlets, of a detachable holder supporting within said bowl a horizontally disposed closed-end collapsible tube, said holder comprising an upper bowl-engaging portion projecting first diagonally into one of said inlets and thence along a portion of the inner surface of said tubular top, a coextensive, horizontally directed intermediate portion disposed along the outer lower surface of said tubular top in opposed spaced relation with said upper portion, spring means mechanically joining said upper portion to said intermediate portion, said spring means urging said last-named portions to yielding engagement with the portion of said tubular top therebetween, a lower portion disposed in opposed spaced relation with said intermediate portion, and a strap band depending from said lower portion, said tube telescoping into said strap band in slip-joint engagement therewith.
 7. The subject matter of claim 6, wherein the tube is circular in section at one end and tapers along an intermediate portion elliptic in section to a flat closure at the other end, a portion of the wall along the underside of said tube being formed of transparent material.
 8. The subject matter of claim 7, further comprising at least one aperture of pinhole size extending through the transparent portion of the tube wall. 